Lateral mud-guard.



Pfzobu & G, VICENTINL LATERAL MUD GUARD, APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5 1914.

llgm meme@ Mama,

Za'nesses:

LATERAL MUD-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented allay til, Milli.

Application: filed October 5, 19111. Serial No, 865,017

To all 'u1-7mm may correr/rrr:

Be it known that we, PARTI-mio ZoBoLi and Giovanni VICENTINI,respectively a citi- /ien of the United States and a citizen of fitalv,residing at Cambridgej in the county liliiddlesex, State ofMassachusetts. have invented a eertein new and useful improvement inLateral Mud-Guards. oi which the following is a specification. reiereneebeing.;

had therein to the accompanying drawings.`

the inrli capacity for adjustnieni, iv 'leonard and trom the wheel.

in the preferred embodiment oi' the in vention there are provided ahearing' member and adjustable devices to seein-e the saine to awheel-hub, said bearing' member beingr i-o11- strueted to provide *forsupport for the splash-apron while permitting" rotation oi the wheelwithout after-ting the position of the mud-guard.

The invention Consists in rertain novel :features oi Construction andarrangement of parts which will be fully' diselosed inthe followingspeeiiieation and accompanying drawing and particularlyv pointed out inthe claims.

in the drawing. Figure l is'a view in :front elevation of a aard-guardinvolving our invention, the same being shown applied to a wheel of anautomobile. Fig. 2 is a 'plan view oi the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a view 1n side elera'tion. F155. l 1s a,

view showing arm l0 detached.

Having reference to the dra\vings,--1 designates a gravitatingsplash-apron which. in accordanee with our invention.j is rotatablysupported from the hub 2 of a wheel 3 with eapaeity for adjustmenttoward and from the piane of the' Wheel and also radially toward andfrom the axis of said Wheel. A hearing member or journai 4 is adjustablysecured to the hui) 2 and serves as one mem-v her oi a bearing servingfor the support of the splash-apron. The, other member 5k of suchbea-ring ie provided with an arm 6 to which the splash-apron l isadjustably Connected.

The attaching devices by which the hearing` member or journal fi issecured to the wheel-huh are designed to `permit attach ment to hubs ofa variety oi' types and sizes, and are ai'ijustahle to permit the saidhearing` member te be placed coaxial with any such' hub and, whendesired, against the end of the same. i l

As showin a two-part split ring Yi' is pro-V vided to enen-ele thewheel-hub 2, and it is tightened thereupon by means of screws 8, S. (lnemember of said two-part Clamping ring is formed with a transverseguideway indieaied at 9. Fig. l, to receive horizontal arm 10 whichextends parallel to the axis ol the wheel-hub. To permit arm l() to beadjusted longitudinall)Y .vithin sueh elidewav the said arm slottedlongitudinally as shown in Fig. l, and the stem ot' a clamping screw ilextends through the. slot into a threaded hole tapped in the iowersert'. oi" the split ring The said srrew serres to secure the arm inadjusted position in slideway. Said arm extends outward le vond the endof the hub. and at its outer end is formed with' a vertical slidewajv 1?in whirh a radially disposed arm lli-l is mounted. To provide loradjustment ol5 the radial arm toward and from the renter of the hub` itis r'ormed with a longitudinal slot l5 and the .siem oi a si-re'w loextends through the said slot into a 'threaded hole tapped in thebottoni ot' the slidewayv l. `Said-screw serves to rlamp the arm ll inadjusted posi tion in the slidewain, The l rari-ng; member or journal iis Connected rigidly vto the in ner end of said radial anni, and 1from'this bearing member the splash-apron is suspended. is shown. thebearing member is in the forni of a bolt extendingf through a holein theinner end of saida-rm and secured by a nut 1i). The end o'l' the boltprei'- erablyis tapered to present an index. 2l) to assist indeterniiningl when the `parts are properly.positioned coaxially withrespect to the wheel-hub,

The clamping ringwhieh encireles the vwheel-hub, together with thehoriziintalax'id u Fial arms, provide adjustable means for f; 'ming thebearing member or jouriiai securely to the wheel-hub, and for adjustmentof the said bearing member into. position 'coaxial Iwith said Wheel-hub.The construetion is such that the device may be attached in properworking relations to wheel-hubs of diHerent sizes and construction. Onering may be used with hubs which vary considerably in size or if desiredclamping rings of various sizes may be provided, all having similarslideways to receive the horizontal arm 10.

The splash-apron 1 is suspended from the bearing member or journal 4 ina manner to allow rotation of the latter without affectingr the normalposition of the splashapron, and also so as to allow the splashapron t0swing forward and rearward relative to said bearing member. Thus thesplash-apron is permitted to hangtnormally in its working position shownin the drawv ings, and to be swung in a plane parallel with the side ofthe wheel in case it encounters an obstruction during the travel of thevehicle forward or backward. ,The means of suspension'also is such as topermit adjustment laterally toward and from the plane of the wheel andvertically toward and from the ground. into the desired positionrelative to the wheel to suit the re- -quirements of use. shown, an arm6, whichin the position normally occupied by the gravitating'splash-apron preferably stands upright. is provided with a bearingmember 5 which is rotatably mounted upon the aforesaid bearing member'or journal 4 as previously noted. A shown, the bearing member 5 is aroller bearing. A bracketl24 adjustably mounted upon said upstandingarm. being formed to fit slidably thereupon. To permit said bracket tobe adjusted up and down upon the upstanding arm, so as to vary theheight of the splashapron relative to the ground, the said arm iscentrally slotted as indicated at 25, and al bolt- 26 extending throughthe bracket and said slot clamps the bracket in adjusted position.

The splash-apron consists of a frame 28 and a covering 29 of leatheror.other suitable material, the. edge of which is folded around theframev and secured by rivets or gromets 30. A weight 3i is secured tothe frame ofI the splash-apron and serves' both to stifen the frame andto add 4weight and stability to the guard. .i

A suspending bail 31 'ofsubstantially U-shape is-pivotally connected atits ends to the frame of the splash-apron by bolts 3'2, 32, and at itsbend it is pivotally mounted ina socket-bearing with which the bracket24 is provided. The link 31 may be swung inward or outward about itspivotal mounting in connection with the bracket, and secured by aclamping screw 33 in the position into which it has been swunglaterally. These provisions enable the splash-apron to be adotalconnection with the link 31 so as to extend down from the link 31 in thedesired vertical or other position and secured in such position bytightening the bolts 32, 32.

We-claim as our invention,-

l. A gravitating lateral `mud-guard comprising a splash-apron, a supportcomprising a clamping ring adapted to encircle a wheel-hub, and ajournal member from which the splash-apron is suspended, said journalmember connected to said clamping ring and adjustable radially relativethereto toward and from the aXis thereof whereby said journal member maybe secured to a wheel-hub coaXially therewith.

2. A gravitating lateral mud-guard comprising a splash-apron, a supportcomprising a clamping member adapted to ber fixedly secured to awheel-hub, a journal member, and adjustable connections between saidjournal member and clamping member whereby said journal member may beadjusted longitudinally and radially with respect to said hub and heldin adjusted position.

3. A gravitating lateral mud-guard comprising a splash-apron, a supportattachable to the hub of a wheel to rotate therewith and presenting abearing member concentric with the hub, and 'a depending link rotatablyysupported upon said bearing member and having adjustable connectionswith the splash-apron and with the said bearing member whereby saidsplash-apron may be adjusted relatively toward and from the I plane ofthe wheel by which it is supported.

4. In'a device of the character described,

a pivotal support for a mud-guard and means to adjustably secure thesame to a wheel-hub comprising a clamping ring to tightly-embrace thewheel-hub, a horizontally disposed arm connected to said clamping ringto extend parallel to the axis of thev PARTEMI() ZOBOLI. GIOVANNIVICENTINI.

wWitnesses:

' NATHAN B. DAY, CHAsI. RANDALL.

